New Delhi: Doctors at the Delhi government-run LNJP hospital have gone on a strike after a medical student was assaulted by the attendants of a patient on Sunday evening.
The strike started in the morning and both regular and emergencies services were affected.
The Resident Doctors’ Association of the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) Hospital has claimed that the strike was triggered by an alleged assault on a third-year student of Maulana Azad Medical College, who was on duty last night in the emergency department.
“A patient was brought to the ER department and later died of some complications. An attendant then assaulted one of the doctors,” a senior doctor of the hospital said.
“In last few days, several such incidents of attack on doctors have taken place in the hospital premises. So, we have gone on a strike,” he said.
Their main demand is augmenting of security deployment, including having marshalls in emergency department, Medical Superintendent Dr Kishore Singh said.
A meeting is currently underway between the RDA and hospital authorities, he said.
The incident comes days after two junior doctors at NRS Hospital in Kolkata were assaulted allegedly by the relatives of a patient who died at the hospital.
Junior doctors in West Bengal went on a strike following the incident over lack of security at the workplace.
The strike has found support from the doctors of other hospitals as well.
The AIIMS Resident Doctors’ Association has demanded from the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and the Union Health Minister to immediately look into the matter.
Last month, the Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had assured to provide proper security to the doctors at all government hospitals and take stringent action against the culprits of any assault on the medical staff.